1. Field of the Invention
The subject matter of the invention are methods of integrated processing of materials, and especially of integrated processing of waste materials.
2. Brief Description of the Background of the Invention Including Prior Art
Known methods of waste material processing include sterilizing waste with chemical agents (e.g., strong acids or bases), physical agents (e.g., high temperature, high pressure, ultrasonic waves, or microwaves), or biological agents (e.g., fermentation bacteria). These processing methods are applicable to such waste materials as sewage sediments, biomass, biological waste, animal slaughter waste, and animal food processing waste. The most common output forms of waste are watery sludge and paste, both of which are mixtures of various solids and liquids. In most cases during storage and processing, waste materials emit repugnant odors in the form gases and aerosols which are very burdensome for the environment and its inhabitants.
Current processing methods of waste materials comprise processing and utilizing of the waste materials in multistage technological processes consisting of series of unit operations, including breaking-up, chemical processing, thermal processing, milling, and cooling, in the same or in different order and in various operational configurations.
The basic disadvantage of utilizing multistage technological processes is that in each of the separate unit operations only those physical phenomena associated with the particular unit operation are exploited and others are neglected. Specifically, while the braking-up of waste products utilizes kinetic energy of milling, it does not at the same time exploit the advantages of utilizing thermal energy. Similarly in chemical unit operations, while emphasis is placed on efficiency of the chemical process, other operational aspects, such as the amount of heat emitted, or the change in the physical structure of the products are neglected.
An example of a unit operation, in which emphasis is placed only on a particular phenomenon associated with that unit operation, is the sanitation of sewage waste with ground bunt lime. In this unit operation only the chemical sterilization abilities are used. Another example is the drying of sewage waste with heat energy emitted during the milling process. In this unit operation, the milling devices, such as ball mills, rod mills, chainsaw mills, solve the problem of grinding and drying. The milling is done, however, at the price of high energy consumption. These examples are not economical because of the necessity to invest up-front in expensive energy supply systems and high operational costs.